Tuesday, 7 April 2015

£25 Million Road Resurfacing Programme Launch

The 1 April signalled the commencement of the major 2015/16 Countywide Road Surfacing Programme being delivered by Transport for Buckinghamshire on behalf of Buckinghamshire County Council.

£25m has been invested to improve the road network in 2015/16 and will incorporate over 220 schemes which will include both strategic routes and residential roads.

Treatment types have been determined by Transport for Buckinghamshire engineers, and will vary to meet the needs of each individual site.

This year’s programme commenced on the morning of 1 April on A41 Bicester Road to the west of Waddeston with pre-patching work in preparation for surface dressing treatment of the A41, which will take place during July 2015.

Mike Freestone, Director of Transport Services attended the launch event and stressed: "With a programme of this size, there will be unavoidable disruption on the network for which we apologise in advance, however we will ensure that we programme the most disruptive of the schemes during the school holidays. We will also carry out a significant amount of this work overnight which will help to minimise the effect of this programme on travelling public. A really important part of this year’s programme is that we have selected £10 million to be subject to market testing to better evaluate options for future works."

Simon Dando, Service Director for Transport for Buckinghamshire added: "This year we will be delivering the largest road surfacing programme since Transport for Buckinghamshire began in 2009 and we are delighted to be carrying out this work on behalf of the County Council. Please bear a thought for our gangs and contractors who will be working on the highway to make improvements for everyone. Unfortunately a minority of motorists are discourteous to our workforce, and even putting them in danger by driving at speed through traffic lights. Please give them the respect that they deserve whilst they carry out their important work."

Full details of the Countywide programme are currently being finalised and will be posted at buckscc.gov.uk/transport - or follow us on Twitter @TfBalerts. Daily tweets will be sent to show where we are working. Residents and businesses affected by the works will be notified in advance of specific works taking place.

Notes to editors:

Programmes will be developed as the year progresses but are very weather dependent so subject to considerable change.
Transport for Buckinghamshire is a partnership alliance between Ringway Jacobs and Buckinghamshire County Council formed in 2009.

Next week we will be working at:
A41 Bicester Road, Kingswood and A41 Gallows Bridge Junction: Tuesday 7th April – Friday 17th April
Night time surfacing works carried out utilising a road closure in operation between 19:00 and 06:00hrs
Desborough Avenue, High Wycombe: Tuesday 7th April – Monday 13th April
Night time surfacing works carried out utilising a road closure in operation between 19:00 and 06:00hrs
There will be no weekend working unless otherwise stated.
http://www.transportforbucks.net/Roadworks-Centre/Schemes-and-projects/Our-schemes-and-projects/Road-treatment-programme.aspx
• Budget of £45 million available over the next three years
• £25 million being used for 2015 / 2016, including £10 million that has been subject to market testing to better evaluate options for future programmes
• In excess of 200 roads will be treated in 2015 / 2016
• Roads chosen for treatment are a combination of those chosen by local Members, under guidance of TfB, and those shown by road condition survey data to require priority treatment.
• Depending on condition of road, the types of treatment used are:
o Surface dressing – Surface dressing is the most cost-effective way of extending the life of a road, as long as the surface has not already deteriorated too far. It is used to restore skid resistance and to seal cracks that may be in the used surface to stop water seeping into the road. Surface dressing also protects the road against the majority of damage caused by severe winter weather.
o Micro-surfacing – Micro surfacing is a fast, effective and economical way to preserve and protect the road and pavement surface and is generally used where surface dressing is not suitable but where a full depth road reconstruction is not required. The surface is ready for use just hours after application. It improves skid resistance without producing loose chippings and fills small cracks and imperfections in the road surface with a capability to smooth out bumps in the roads.
o Re-surfacing – When a road is so badly damaged for either micro surfacing or surface dressing to be effective we may need to replace the whole surface. Resurfacing involves digging out the worst affected areas or the road surface and laying new hot bituminous material.